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Fifty Dead Men Walking
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 1 votes
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Suspense/Thriller
Written by: Kari Skogland
Directed by: Kari Skogland
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 21, 2009
Running Time: 117 minutes, Color
Origin: UK | Canada
Summary
RATING: R for strong brutal violence and torture, language and some sexuality
Starring Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, Kevin Zegers, Natalie Press, Rose McGowan, Tom Collins, and William Houston
In the 1980s when the Irish civil conflict was at its most treacherous, 22 year old Martin McGartland was recruited by the British police to infiltrate and spy on the IRA. He lived his life under constant threat of exposure and subsequent guaranteed torture and death yet he continued because his information saved many lives. He enjoyed the buzz until one day he was discovered and had to escape against all odds. Inspired by a true story, to this day he is on the run. (Brightlight Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Hollywood Reporter Doris Toumarkine
The decibels, energy and overall quality are high in writer-director Kari Skogland's Fifty Dead Men Walking, her supremely well-made, highly stylized, graphic tale of Northern Ireland's "Troubles" in the late 1980s.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Setting entirely aside the accuracy of the film, the IRA still has him marked for death, and indeed there was an attempt on his life in Canada 10 years after he fled. He’s still out there somewhere.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) James Adams
It's a pretty fine film, thanks largely to the performances (and look) of its crackerjack cast, as well as Jonathan Freeman's restless, gritty cinematography and a lickety-split script.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
What makes Fifty Dead Men work is the story’s sheer moral complexity, which dares viewers to sympathize with anyone onscreen for more than a few minutes at a time.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
A streamlined, adrenalized thriller that is not as deep as it would like to appear, treads a retrospective political tightrope.
Read Full Review >Variety John Anderson
A classic about the Irish "troubles." Despite the unavoidably convoluted facts of the real-life story, pic boasts plausibly written, solidly acted characters and a conflict that pushes the viewer's righteous-indignation buttons.
Read Full Review >Empire Dan Jolin
Think Donnie Brasco, with the IRA instead of the Mafia. Jim Sturgess dominates with a star-making turn, although some stylistic slip-ups let him down a little.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Sturgess is solid and Kingsley predictably sneaky, but the atmosphere -- scurries through the Catholic/Protestant border, tense stand-offs, spontaneous riots -- is what's genuinely gripping.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
A richer movie might speculate on McGartland’s life now. How does a local hero survive in an anonymous void?
Read Full Review >Village Voice Aaron Hillis
The unfitting flashiness and clunky segues between thriller and melodrama kill any real sense of tension, making this a poor man's "Donnie Brasco"--that is, if its self-congratulation and failure to contextualize the values on both sides of the ethno-political struggle didn't already make it the poor man's "Hunger."
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen
A muddled, talky affair, part soap opera, part undercover police procedural.
Read Full Review >Time Out New York David Fear
Kari Skogland’s flashy yet dead-on-arrival drama turns Belfast’s backstreet battlefields into music-video backgrounds.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 2.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
James M. gave it a2:
Done way better many many times before. This genre would need a radical approach to make it any bit interesting. Harry's game streets ahead.